In the midst of the coup crisis, the total number of private foundations in Brazil fell by 14%.

Alana Gandra, reporter for Agência Brasil - The Brazilian market registered a 14% drop in the number of private foundations and non-profit associations (Fasfil). There are 237 foundations, equivalent to 4,3% of the 5,5 million public and private companies and entities, both for-profit and non-profit, registered in the Central Business Register (Cempre).

The figures are from 2016 and were released today (5) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In 2016, Fasfil accounted for 2,3 million salaried employees, which corresponds to 5,1% of the total.

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Private foundations and non-profit associations accounted for 2,3 million salaried employees in 2016 (Archive/Wilson Dias/Agência Brasil)
This is the first time that IBGE has conducted the Fasfil study on its own. Previously, it relied on support from the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea).

The recession was the main reason for the decline in the number of Fasfil institutions, because these institutions are highly dependent on funding, both public and private. IBGE's research detected a drop in the number of Fasfil institutions in the country in 2016: 14% less compared to 2013, and 16,5% less compared to 2010.

"As the environment becomes more unstable economically, entities find it increasingly difficult to obtain financing," said economist Denise Guichard, a researcher at IBGE and a member of the team responsible for analyzing the survey data.

The reduction in Fasfil was most significant in the North (-30,4%) and Northeast (-24,5%) regions in 2016, compared to 2013, and also when comparing 2016 with 2010 (-32,9% and -30,9%, respectively). There was a loss of space for these entities in the North and Northeast regions, which are focused on defending rights, including those involving rural producers.

Conversely, there was growth in the number of people employed between 2010 and 2016: +11,7%. This expansion was mainly driven by increases in employment observed in the health (25,5%), religion (23,9%), and development and advocacy (11,4%) sectors.

"This issue of employment is important," said the economist. "Because, despite the entire crisis scenario since 2014, having important segments of the economy signaling the opening of new jobs, generating employment and income, I think it's important to emphasize that," she stated.

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The reduction in the number of Fasfil was most significant in activities related to the defense of rights and professional associations, which require a greater amount of funding.

"Because other entities linked to health and education managed to stay afloat. The same happened with religious foundations and associations," Denise pointed out. According to the survey, 35,1% of Fasfil are composed of religious entities and 25% by other types of associations.

IBGE research shows the highest concentration of Fasfil in 2016 in the Southeast Region (48,3%), which also stands out in terms of population (42,1%); followed by the South (22,2%).

The Northeast, although it ranks third in the number of private non-profit institutions (18,8%), is the second most populous region (27,4%). The Central-West region appears in fourth position in Fasfil (6,8%), although it is the least populous in Brazil (7,6%). The North has the lowest number of Fasfil (3,9%), but is the fourth most populous region (8,6%).

Salaried workers
Research shows that, in 2016, 152,9 Fasfils, or the equivalent of 64,5% of the institutions, had no salaried employees and had to rely on volunteer work and the provision of independent services.

"It's a characteristic of a large part of the Fasfil group," Denise stated. Because IBGE works with formally constituted entities, with a National Registry of Legal Entities (CNPJ), it cannot gather more information from institutions supported by volunteer work.

Institutions without salaried employees were more common in the religion group, where 37,5% had no formal employees with signed contracts. In contrast, those with the most employees belonged to the health group (35,7% of total employed personnel) and education and research (28,6%), with a particular emphasis on early childhood education.

"Those are the large institutions," the researcher emphasized. Only 1,6% of these entities had more than 100 employees in 2016, concentrating 1,5 million people.

Pay
In 2016, people employed at Fasfil earned an average of R$ 2.653,33, or the equivalent of three minimum wages per month, considering the minimum wage of R$ 880. The total payroll reached R$ 80,3 billion.

The average monthly salary at Fasfil was similar to the average remuneration observed for all companies in the Central Business Register (Cempre) in the same year.

Although women represented 66% of all salaried workers in Fasfil, exceeding the 44% observed in Cempre, they earned 24% less than men.

In 2016, 35,4% of Fasfil employees had a higher education degree and received, on average, 5,1 minimum wages. At Cempre, however, only 13,8% of workers had a higher education degree, but the average remuneration was 6,3 minimum wages.

Denise Guichard pointed out that, at Cempre, the remuneration includes workers from public administration, business entities, and non-profit organizations. "Public administration pulls that number (of remuneration) up."

The research also reveals an 8,2% increase in average monthly salaries for employees in Fasfil in real terms, that is, after discounting inflation, between 2010 and 2016. However, when compared to 2013, a real reduction of 0,7% in average salaries paid is observed.

The document reports that 45,7 new Fasfils were created in Brazil between 2011 and 2016, representing an average annual increase of 3,2%, predominantly religious entities (+19,9 institutions). From 2001 to 2016, new Fasfils accounted for 48,9% of the total number of such entities.